Greyfriars Bobby Statue, Edinburgh

I had a bit of a day off from photography today. However, I did see this statue in a book about Edinburgh and thought that he would make a good photograph but didn’t know where it was in the city. Today, when I walked past I just had to get my camera out and grab a picture. The story of the Skye Terrier dog is world famous…

Bobby belonged to John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police as a night watchman, and the two were inseparable for about two years. Then, on the 15th February 1858, Gray died of Tuberculosis. He was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Bobby, who out lived John Gray by 14 years, is said to have spent the rest of life sitting on his master’s grave.

I have seen versions of this story in popular culture a number of times, Walt Disney had a very similar looking dog in a number of his children’s films and the story was even adapted for one of my favourite cartoon shows, Futurama. I thought that the photograph looked better in black and white and the space to the right of the dog gives the impression he is looking out for his master’s return.